DogBlog

Best in show?

My friend Poppy is known for her less than ideal temperament. Despite this, her doting dad Chris entered her into the dog show at the Royal Melbourne Show. This is their story…

Poppy made an impression

“Poppy and I were the first ones through the door on
Sunday morning, eager to get the most time to set up our display. When we
got to the registration table, two of the women instantly said ‘Poppy!’. It
seems she made quite an impression last year!” (Hmm… did she bite an official?)

(Not so) fastest recall

“In the fastest recall event, my biggest fear was that the RSPCA volunteer who was holding Poppy at the starting line would get eaten. Despite my instructions to hold her by the lead, the volunteer wanted to risk life and limb by holding her around the waist.

“Eventually the starter shouted ‘Go’ and all the dogs leapt into action–except Poppy. Somehow the announcer knew Poppy’s name, and he started yelling ‘Come on Poppy’. Just about every person in the crowd followed suit, and the chorus of ‘Come on Poppy’ soon got her moving and she bolted across the stadium, making up for lost time.”

Waggliest tail, almost

“We were in the first heat of the waggliest tail event, and I was really struggling to get Poppy to wag her tail. The best I could do was walk away and try to get her to chase me. That raised a tiny wag. You can imagine my surprise when the heat winners were called out and Poppy’s number was amongst them. My sister and a colleague had come along to lend moral support, and they were both stunned that we made it through.”

“In the final, Poppy sat down and then laid down. It was late in the day and she was in no mood for tail wagging.”

Dog (dis)obedience

“The dog obedience event was a complete disaster. Poppy stood when she should have sat, she sat when she should have dropped, and she dropped when she should have stood. She also stopped to sniff all the pot plants, so it’s no surprise that we didn’t make the final of this event.”

Cuddliest pet?

“Ha! We didn’t even bother get up to enter this one!”

Best display - YAY!

“The day wasn’t going well. Four events and no prizes. Then over the loudspeaker we hear ‘… and for best display for the second year in a row, Poppy!’. Even Poppy was jumping up and down, we were both so excited.

We won a huge hamper of goodies full of squeaky toys, new lead, new collar, food and treats–everything a dog could dream about.”

Posted by Bacchus on October 16th, 2004 at 08:13am
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Introducing Shorty and Luna

Hey Bacchus,

We’re kind of new to the whole “Internet”, “dog-blog” thing, and we thought
we’d make your acquaintance. Our owners, Michele and Andy, have written a
few stories about us (mostly in the hope that, through these, we might be
able to pay for our own food and veterinary bills). Here’s two of ‘em.

The great race

One day Andy decided to enter Shorty (I’m the handsome white one in the
photo) and Luna in a race against other little dogs. The
referee put Shorty and Luna in the starting boxes, and Andy went to the
other end of the track to congratulate them when they won. Andy felt sure
that Shorty would win, because he’s very fast in the park. When the race
started, and the starting boxes opened, Shorty just sat there, looking
around, and quivering. He was a bit scared of all the people cheering him on
(normally it’s just Andy). Luna ran out of the box, but only as far as the
nearest set of patting hands. Luna likes to be patted.

Windsor of Windsor at Windsor Siding

Andy, Michele, Shorty and Luna live in in a suburb called Windsor. Andy and
Michele walk Shorty and Luna in a park called Windsor Siding. One of
Shorty’s best mates in the park is called Windsor too. So that’s three
Windsors! He’s another little dog like Shorty, but his legs are longer, and
he has great races with Shorty. Windsor’s owner (who also lives in Windsor)
told Andy that Windsor (the dog, not the suburb, or the park) had won the
great race three times in a row. Andy didn’t tell her about how Shorty and
Luna went in the race.

Pawing the keyboard on behalf of Shorty and Luna were,
Andrew Trevillian and Michele Sabto

Posted by Bacchus on October 13th, 2004 at 08:34am
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